Personal Starships
"I will never in all my days, love a female with the same intensity that the Captain loves this ship..." "Probably one reason why he refuses to install an AI system, might make things a little too awkward..." '' Navigator and Engineer for the ISS "Kiss me Katie", Sound byte from "Spacers" Documentary. --------- Personal starships encompass everything from A cobbled-together collection of systems in a hull made in someone's spare time, to factory built assembly line stock models of spacecraft, and even include decommissioned military surplus types. The main defining factor despite the origin, is that they are owned by a singular person or small group of independent beings (or more accurately one of the above and their creditors for most cases). Despite numerous dramas and stories about "brave captains and their hearty crews" wherein the ship is a transport or Freighter in search of adventure, the most common form of Personal Starship is a private yacht type owned and sometimes operated by someone who already has a great deal of money and indulges in their own transport. Not that there isn't a wide variety of being transport, Trader, Cargo and independent shipping and Courier classification vessels, as well as various mercenary groups who make use of their own personal starships for transport and combat, Even scavenger and recovery vehicles that pick their way across the stars. it's just that owning and operating a Starship tends to cost a lot more than some who start off with this Romantic notion of exploration and exotic locales seem to realize. Even when sitting still a starship costs in upkeep and if one has a crew, pay. Rarely does the romanticized ideal concept of working at ones leisure to pay off the cost work out. Many times such owned vessels wind up in debt to creditors, some of which may be unscrupulous in their motives and cause no end of trouble if not paid off promptly. Following are some generalizations about the Various types of personal starships. --------- Personal Yachts & Transports ''"Oh yes, and Helen, have the Midas prepped for launch and stocked for a short trip to Golgatha station. I'm feeling rather lucky tonight and want to hit the tables before it goes away." '' ~CEO Bernd Kranston, Orbital foods intstl. Most personal starships encountered are going to be Personal transports or "yachts". Mostly owned by those who have the money and means to keep a personal ship, and occasionally used as a kind of status, or mostly just to avoid flying on board commercial space liners. There is a bit of a misnomer in that a lot of times if a personally owned ship isn't classified by a ships and services department as being some other classification, it's labeled as a personal transport (Similar to how a similar classification may be made of a personally owned grav-car). In modern times a ship will be registered with a valid IFF transponder which states the vessel's name, current owner, planet of origin where registration was made and other such information. (Operating without a IFF, or altering one's IFF is a crime on most civilized worlds.) As such, a personal transport/yacht will fall within certain allowed parameters. Due to the dangers of space travel, every ship capable of space flight is allowed to be equipped with a certain amount of weaponry to serve, for the most part, as point-defense. This is for such things as meteor defense, or personal defense of the occupants. it's not uncommon for a investment to be made for additional weapons to be upgraded or added, however it's suspicious if a registered personal transport has enough weaponry to lay siege to a orbital platform. Licensed for the transport of beings or small cargoes between systems, there is usually an upper range of mass that a ship can have before it's no longer generalized as a personal transport, and gets labeled as a independent cargo vessel instead, whether or not it's carrying actual cargo or just has a higher mass due to the addition of guest suites and a pool. ---------- Independant Traders ''"As a matter of fact, these Ferling Fertility idols are all hand-made from the natives of Firgil Three. I can't confirm specifically, but according to legend the heat from a candle placed in the base here, causes the clay to release special ions that help stimulate fertility in most bipedal species. My hand raised to Elvis I swear it's what my friend at the university said. So did you want to buy a few or just the dried targil-weed tea?" '' ~Spacer Diaries. Vol VII, The age and decline of Traders. Independent Trader ships are listed as a separate classification mainly due to the fact that instead of making cargo trips from location to location the captain has applied for a license to trade, which also includes carrying a wide variety of exotic materials or creatures from point to point. Usually regarded as more of a holdover or Legacy classification of ship from a time where colonies would be furnished with essentials, yet there was still a market for rare and exotic arts and technologies (Such as certain medical technologies or entertainment types had been produced, yet hadn't made their way to the colonies yet) in which could turn a profit. Nowadays, independent Traders are seem more as a Curiosity and some are under suspicion of being tech runners (or those who sell advanced tech to low tech worlds) similar to roving trade shows from history. Generally a small crew and large stock of various items is what one expects from a Independent trader ship, though thanks to the "romanticism" of the stereotype a great many first time captains will try their hand at a trader license looking for adventure and a "big score". Though a great many find themselves relegated to junk peddling for operating costs. ---------- Cargo & Shipping ''"Yes indeed officer. As it states there on the manifest: 'mining and habitation equipment' for the Abydos Colony." ''"Well well, would it surprise you to know this isn't the first time I've seen plasma rifles listed as "mining equipment"? Though the sensor baffle generators as "habitation equipment" is a new one..." ~An unlucky Captain dealing with a non-inept customs patrol agent. In an interstellar economy, rarely is basic materials such as carbon, steel, other base metals that aren't artwork or rare isotopes a way to make a profit. In fact most bulk cruisers handle transport of gasses, liquids or other materials that a modern society cannot obtain easily for themselves. This means that the limited space available for cargo carrying on personal ships may not cover the costs. Occasionally a person or small group can purchase a bulk hauler cargo ship that can make runs with materials and such to make the trip worthwhile, though the cost to profit ratio is lower due to corporate owned haulers being able to make the trip for less and in many cases holding the equivalent to "exclusive rights" to certain colonies and planet systems. (Such as a planet with little metal available in the system for whatever reason may have exclusive metal import rights with a corporate entity.) This is where Private Cargo and Shipping types of ships fail, but also have found a niche. generally classified as being larger with a greater mass than a personal transport, a Private Cargo Freighter fills in a necessary field in interstellar trade. For transporting pre-assembled or made items from factories to distribution locations either too remote or not cost effective to divert a whole bulk transport to the system for delivery. Or, in some cases, entirely illegal as an import to that world. Things such as break down reactors, small auto-factories for household goods, or cases of brewed spirits or even animal life can be shuffled from location to location on board a private cargo vessel. (Though it is advised to check the small print on a contract before taking on an agreement to ship for a concern. Their idea of "foodstuffs" may be in the form of live animals for example.) --------- Courier ''"Yeah yeah, I capiche. I ain't never heard of no message being delivered to Vagros Three, let alone delivered anything of that sort, and that's the story in casual conversation or under oath. In fact, I wasn't even here, I was picking up a package of Jellies across town to deliver to this nice old lady on Vagros Nine Retirement colony... " '' ~Sancho Lincoln, Actor, Strange Tales from Hyperspace, Holo Series. Independent courier ships are a rarity among most of interstellar travels. At one time they were much more prevalent, back before a lot of companies took on the contracts for delivering messages and parcels on behalf of various delivery agencies. usually a courier ship is little more than a heavy fighter sized craft, with fast engines and very little in the way of living space. in fact a lot of the couriers in service are stripped down military fighters with a few modifications to their systems. Dedicated courier ships will have a small living area, cockpit and defensive systems to go with their speed. Most oftentimes, a "independent" courier is only independent on paper, as it is usually tied into some less than legal elements in systems they operate in. Some make use of their delivery schedule to scout out targets for a pirate attack, or some are used to smuggle illicit goods or information under the guise of delivering. There is a great deal of profit to be made from operating as a private courier, in this day and age a lot of businesses and other beings sometimes find it a requirement to remain anonymous and not using a big name courier service that may belong to a competitor or could be persuaded to not be as confidential as one may like isn't an option. Courier ships are considered "fast prey" by a lot of pirate groups, though due to their speed and defenses they are hard to catch. And even if caught the pirates may find themselves with dedicated encrypted files that can't be opened and thus obtain no profit. Due to various dangers involved there have been a number of drama and action thrillers based around the modern "Space pony-express". ---------- Private Military '' ''"Yes you have the right person Senator, No it's alright, not all mercenaries look like they got in a face-first fight with a plasma drive. I can always grunt and spit if it'll make you more comfortable. So have you read over the contract yet? It's fairly standard. Including an attached listing of our license as a private security enforcement force for the Caribdus cluster. if you call a picket carrier, three troop transports worth of infantry, two corvettes and four flights of fighters and bombers as a security force. Yes well they take security seriously in Caribdus. So if you'll just put your thumb on the pad and agree to the terms we can get to you telling me how the Crimson Manticore Task force can win this war for you." ''~Haradrim Maximus, sealing a deal for the Crimson Manticore Independent armed force Military hardware in the form of ships is by far usually the most difficult to obtain, since many systems have strict regulations on whom may have such weaponry, as well as how much as well. A lot of times the rules exist so that a police force or planetary military doesn't find itself out-gunned by a potential hostile "for pay" organization. Thus there is not much of a public market for military ships available to be sold to private individuals. Most governments and corporations as they upgrade their security forces, however, will find that there is a second-hand market for military hardware. Decommissioning a ship and selling it on the market helps recoup the expense invested initially. So most of the Private military ships encountered will be retrofitted decommissioned warships, or modified personal Starships with upgraded hardware. Though one needs to keep in mind local regulations when it comes to operating a "private military" ship. In a lot of "civilized" sectors of space there is a limitation to just how much firepower a ship is allowed to have. Five banks of plasma torpedoes and ion cannon turrets may be fine for helping put down a revolution on a outer world planet, however flying into a core world with that much hardware can cause some difficulties. (A lot of times the corporate and governmental military forces are not too keen on ships with more firepower than they may have available.) Licenses for ownership and operation of a private military type vessel are some of the hardest to come by, though there are several border worlds that may allow for easier access, flashing your license to have aforementioned plasma torpedoes on the ship from the government of "Pirate-topia" may not allow for you to keep them if you find yourself stuck at a customs checkpoint. --------- Other Types ''"Well...it's not entirely like how I thought it would be. When I took out the loan to get myself a starship I imagined something with sleek lines and fins. I admit, since there's no atmosphere you could essentially strap engines and a hyperdrive to a brick and make it work, which it looks like they did here, but it lacks a bit in the 'star captain' Style I was expecting..." '' ~Overheard at Haley's Discount Shipyard, Europa colony Sol Sector. Entire volumes of catalogs would be required to go through every ship classification as well as the possible modifications or uses that they are put to. In some sectors of space one can even register a ship as a "Hypersace Popsicle" depending on the bureaucracy. Not to mention the numerous ships that are registered as one classification, yet have been known to pull all manner of other duties. The general rule, however, on what classifies a ship as a personal starship instead of a Commercial or Military is the nature of ownership. If it has a interstellar drive system and is owned by one person or a small group then it is listed as a personal starship (Flying brick or otherwise).